


018 - Platonic Fic; Van's Sister Comes on Tour

by storiesaboutvan



Category: Catfish and the Bottlemen (Band)
Genre: Other, Reader-Insert, platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 13:31:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17468513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesaboutvan/pseuds/storiesaboutvan
Summary: Filling the prompt “Hey! Can you write one in which the reader is Van’s sister and he takes her on tour with him and she goes to every show, gets along super fine with the guys or something like that? I love your work!”





	018 - Platonic Fic; Van's Sister Comes on Tour

**Author's Note:**

> This one was more of a challenge, so I really hope that you like it (being a non-romantic narrative and all)! I think that the story of Van being born of IVF is important to his personality, and I didn’t want to change that, so I’ve made the reader adopted. Mary and Bernie have a lot of love, and it stays more true to everyone this way.

You remember the day you were dropped off with Mary and Bernie. You were only four, and it is the first full memory you have. It has vivid colour and clarity. There are fragments from before, but you let them rot in the back of your mind. Whoever you were before, whatever 'family' you lived with didn't matter. Mary and Bernie fought for you, and for your big brother Van, and they would always be who you belonged with. You remember the smell of toast and tea, the sound of Bernie singing old country songs, and the feeling of Van taking your little hand and showing you your bedroom for the first time.

You considered yourself extraordinarily lucky. You didn't just wind up with one family, but two. As you grew up, you sat on the old couch with Larry in the shed out the back and watched Van and Benji, then Bob, then Bondy, play music. Catfish became family, and all the love you had for them was too big to contain in one heart. You identified with the octopus for that reason; they have three hearts. You had a necklace with a little octopus hanging from a silver loop that Mary and Bernie got you for your eighteenth. Whenever you'd visit the lads on tour you'd bring the little octopus teddy that Van sent you in the mail the first time he went overseas to play. The plan was a tattoo as well. Maybe you'd use that creepy drawing Bondy did of you with eight arms as a reference piece. The point is, you may have been born into the hands of the wrong people initially, but you well and truly found your place in the world.

…

The flight was long and when you landed in Australia you were disorientated and jet lagged. The uber pulled up to the hotel, and from the window you could see Van and Larry hanging around the front door. The looked insanely out of place in black jeans and long sleeved shirts. It was hot, and it was Australia. Everyone else was in shorts, tshirts, and wearing footwear that used the least amount of material as possible.

As soon as Van saw you his face lit up and his little vampire teeth were visible. When you were little he used to scare you by pretending that they could really break skin, and that he really was going to drink your blood. You'd run through the house screaming and hide under Bernie. 

"Heyyyyy!" he exclaimed, and pulled you into a bear hug. Larry took the bags from the back of the car and exchanged them with Van for you. He hugged you like a brother too.

In the elevator up Van started the normal routine of telling you about the tour and all the amazing things going on in his life. It used to be that he'd wait and ask you about home and your life first, but eventually it was established that his stories were better. You dumped your stuff in the hotel room, and followed Van and Larry to the hotel bar.

It was late in the day, so most of the crew were already at the venue setting up. This just left the band, but also minus Bob. As you walked up to where Benji and Bondy appeared to be in some sort of peanut throwing competition, you asked Van where Bob was. "He's doing his drummer Skype group thing in his room, I think. He knows you're coming though, don't worry. He'll come down." You missed all of them, and wanted to see them before they disappeared onto the limelight of stage.

Bondy saw you first, he stood and opened his arms and made a sarcastic smile. You wrapped your arms around him. The tips of his hair that curled up around his hat tickled your face. When you pulled away he kissed you on the cheek. "Kid, how ya goin'?" You grinned and nodded at him. You turned and repeated the motions with Benji. From your pocket you pull out the BB8 keychain you bought him at your stopover airport. He made a sound of approval and sat down and started to press the button that made BB8 come to life with noise and light. You took your seat and Larry put drinks down in front of you and Van.

"We found a band to open for us on the US leg of the tour," Van said. "Here," and he handed you his phone. You watched the video he had up of July Talk performing Gentleman live.

"I'm very into what this is," you say. "Have you met them?"

"Bondy met Peter, he's the guy singer, last year, right?" Van replied, redirecting the sentence from you to Bondy. Bondy nodded.

"He's a good dude. You'll love Leah, Y/N. She's kind of mad, but in the same way as you," Bondy told you.

"Right," you reply slowly, trying to work out what type of mad you and Leah shared. He meant it as a compliment though. If Johnny Bond was insulting you, you'd know straight up.

"Yeah, so they do that all show. They sing at each other and stuff. It's like they're doing a play. It's cool," Van says excitedly, looking down at his phone once you handed it back. "Also, Larry's got a girlfriend," he added onto the end, like it wasn't a sudden change in topic. Larry made a loud groaning sound and covered his face with his hands. The others all made kissing sounds to mock him, and Benji started throwing peanuts at him.

"Stop," you said in his defence. "Do you really? What's her name? Where she from? Tell me everything. Do you have a photo?"

"Does he have a photo," Bob said quietly, under his breath with his eyebrows raised in that judging way he's infamous for. He sat down, joining the group. You got up and changed seats; squeezing in next to him. Then, you looked at the others for explanation.

"The reason we know Larry has a girlfriend is because Van heard Larry's phone buzz and he went to answer it and there was a picture," Benji explained.

"Van, why do you still answer his phone for him?" you asked. He just shrugged. Van and Larry had an unconventional friendship. You spent most of your teenage years trying to work it out, but eventually, like everyone that knew them, you just accepted that they existed in a different world to the rest of you. "Alright, why did you tell everyone about the picture?" you asked.

"What?! I didn't!" He sounded so offended, his voice going up at least three octaves, and he looked at Larry for backup 

"He didn't," Larry confirmed.

"I did," Bondy said, the pride in his voice evident. "Right place. Right time."

"Right angle?" Benji quipped. Everyone laughed.

"Does she know you've all seen this photo?" you asked Larry. He was going a nice shade of pink.

"Well I had to tell her, right? Thought that was it but she thought it was mad funny and said these lads were lucky," he explained. You nodded, amused and proud of him.

"Anyway, we should head out to tea before the show," Benji said.

As you walked down the street Van walked next to you and he handed you his phone again. A girl's Instagram was open, and you flicked through. "Larry's girlf?" you asked, and Van nodded. "She's cute," you said.

"Yeah. She seems cool. I like her,"

"Well as long as Van approves,"

"Fuck off," he replied and pushed you into Bondy, who didn’t miss a step, draping his arm around your shoulder.

…

You sat around a circular table in a restaurant that advertised as being "authentic" Thai. When a waiter placed chopsticks at the table, you knew otherwise. You waited until the chopstick abilities of everyone were on display before considering sharing the fact that most Thai food is not traditionally eaten with chopsticks. It was just a misconception; probably people incorrectly (and with at least some degree of racism) considered all 'Asian' food to be the same. 

Van was hands down the worst at using chopsticks. He couldn't hold more than one piece of rice at a time. He was trying very hard though. One of your favourite things about your brother was that he'd give everything a go once. You were far more cautious. You'd hang back with Mary while Van and Bernie did something a little reckless.

"Van, you don't have to use the chopsticks," you told him.

"Yeah I do. It's rude not too," he said. Bob laughed and you exchanged a look that told you Bob also knew why the chopsticks were not needed. Benji and Bondy weren't having any trouble with them. While the whole band had been to Japan before, Benji and Bondy had both been on holiday there and had grown accustomed to chopsticks.

"Thai food isn't eaten with chopsticks," you said. Van stops and looks down at the table. "There's a fork. Use it."

"But it's Asi-"

"Don't you dare say 'but it's Asian food.' Use the fucking fork, Ryan," you said. Bondy snorted.

"This is why we don't let siblings come on tour," Van said to the table.

"No, this is exactly why we do," Benji replied.

"You can all stop using the chopsticks," you told the table, but they shrugged and continue to use them.

"Do Thai people eat octopuses?" Van asked. You knew by the genuinely innocent tone that he was being serious. The boys all laughed.

"I don't know," you said.

"What's the plural of octopus?" Benji asked.

"Octopi?" Bondy suggested. They all looked to you.

"There are three. Octopuses is most commonly used. Octopi is used sometimes but I think some people think it's wrong or incorrect or something? Then there is octopodes but nobody uses that," you reply, proud of your knowledge.

"God, you're weird," Bondy says laughing, throwing a piece of rice across the table.

"Don't fuckin' throw things at her," Van immediately curses, throwing rice at Bondy.

The food was good, and when you were full (a good twenty minutes before the boys) you sat back and listened to them talk. After all those years it was amazing that they never run out of things to say. Van paid for everyone and tipped the waiter even though it wasn't the custom in Australia. You walked straight to the venue, led by Larry.

The plan was to sneak through a back alleyway into the artist's entrance. When you turned the corner there was a small group of people. Most of them were wearing Catfish shirts. Your three hearts filled with pride. When the group saw the boys, you could see the excitement and the fear. You stood back with Larry as they took photos and signed album booklets. One girl had printed off a picture of Van from when he was an awkward teenager, making a weird face with his tongue between his teeth and head pushed back. Van held it up to show you and Larry. You lost it. "Very good," you said to the girl. A few of the fans came over and asked for photos with Larry. A young girl turned to you.

"You're Van's sister, right?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," you answered. She giggled.

"Is he a good brother?" Her eyes were sparkling and you could see all the love she had for Van. Even if Van was horrible, you wouldn't have had the heart to crush the idealistic image she obviously had of him. You sighed and smiled.

"Yes. He's good. Protective. Loving. All that mushy stuff."

The girl seemed happy with the information and walked back to the rest of the group. As you watched Van take photos with that stupid open-mouth smile he did and be adored by people, you knew that no matter what, he would always be deeply loved. That thought was a very comforting thing.

…

Catfish were always good live. Van had said a few times that he tried to play like every show was his last, and he certainly did that. As the breakdown in Tyrants hit and your brother flung himself across the stage like a pinball in a machine, the pride was overwhelming. The calmness of the others provided the context needed to make Van stand out as an undeniably powerful frontman. His whole life, your whole life, provided that context.

His 'test tube baby' story, your adopted story, the love that poured out of Mary and Bernie into the both of you, and how that was passed onto the guys in the band, and anyone else that came into contact with you... All of that created this environment where the music was good, the friendships were loyal, and the life would always be perfect.


End file.
